A fresh analysis of particle-collider data, co-led by Berkeley Lab physicists, limits some of the hiding places for one type of theorized particle – the dark photon, also known as the heavy photon – that was proposed to help explain the mystery of dark matter.

A global hunt for the universe’s missing matter is underway, and this autumn everyone is invited to join in. On and around October 31, 2017, events around the world will celebrate the hunt for the universe’s unseen “dark matter.”

The race is on to build the most sensitive experiment designed to directly detect dark matter particles known as WIMPs. The LUX-ZEPLIN project has formally cleared a key construction milestone that will propel it toward its April 2020 goal for completion.

A new planetarium show, produced in part by Berkeley Lab’s Michael Barnett, is designed to immerse audiences in the search for dark matter, which we have so far detected only through its gravitational effects.

The Large Underground Xenon (LUX) dark matter experiment, which, with the help of Berkeley Lab researchers, operates beneath a mile of rock at the Sanford Underground Research Facility in the Black Hills of South Dakota, has completed its search for the missing matter of the universe. At a meeting in the UK, LUX scientific collaborators presented the results from the detector’s final 20-month run.

A new astronomy facility, the Simons Observatory, is planned in Chile’s Atacama Desert to boost ongoing studies of the evolution of the universe, from its earliest moments to today. The observatory will probe the subtle properties of the universe’s first light, known as cosmic microwave background radiation.

Berkeley Lab and UC Berkeley scientists will play a role in a new NASA space telescope project exploring dark energy, alien worlds and the evolution of galaxies, galaxy clusters and the large-scale structure of the universe.

The town of Lead South Dakota has a hidden gem: an enormous, underground mine that’s been retrofitted to accommodate large-scale particle physics experiments. These slideshows and videos give a sense of what it’s like to descend 4,850 feet below the surface and work on projects that could shine light on fundamental truths about the universe.